Pervez Masih: The Greatest Sacrifice

Voice 2:And I’m Ryan Geertsma. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

Voice 1:It was a normal day at the International Islamic University in Islamabad, Pakistan. On the women’s side of the university, hundreds of girls gathered in and around the cafeteria. This large room is where the female students gather each day to eat their meals. This day was no different. The room was full of girls talking and eating. Then there was an explosion. The explosion broke windows and doors. It caused panic - people ran screaming from the cafeteria.

Voice 2:On that day, in October of 2009, four innocent people died. Today’s Spotlight is on this bomb attack and its unlikely hero.

Voice 1:Pervez Masih was the International Islamic University janitor. He cleaned the buildings. And he kept things in good working order. Masih was uneducated. And he did not make very much money from his job. He was a new worker at the University. In fact, when the bombing happened, Masih had only worked there for less than one week. However, even in this short time, people noticed Masih’s nature. A University worker talked with DAWN news about Masih.

Voice 3:“He was very simple and, by nature, he was quite different from other workers in the university,”

Voice 2:This simple man made an amazing sacrifice on October 20th, 2009. A sacrifice that saved the lives of hundreds of female students.

Voice 1:On that day in October, a man entered the women’s side of the International Islamic University. He was not supposed to be there. And he did not come for good reasons. The man was wearing women’s clothes. He was covered from his head to his feet with a black, traditional Islamic covering called a burka. A security guard, named Mohammad Shaukat, noticed the man. Shaukat recognized that something was wrong. Few female students at the University wear head to foot burkas. So, he walked to the man in the burka. Suddenly, the man shot Shaukat.

Voice 2:Pervez Masih saw what happened. He recognized that the man had come to do harm. So, he moved in front of the man. He told the man that he could not come into the girls’ cafeteria. The two men argued. Masih blocked the man from entering the room. Suddenly, the man exploded bombs that were hidden under the burka. The attacker and Masih died right away. So did two other female students. However, if Masih had not kept the man out of the cafeteria, many more people would have died.

Voice 1:Two students from the University talked with the news organization CNN. One student, named Afsheen Zafar said,

Voice 4:“If he did not stop the attacker, there could have been great, great death and damage.”

Voice 2:Another student named Sumaya Ahsan said,

Voice 5:“He is now a hero to us because he saved our lives and our friends' lives.”

Voice 1:Masih acted with great courage. He is a hero. However, he is an unlikely hero. He was not a security guard like Shaukat. Masih’s job was only to clean. He also did not know the people at the University very well. He had worked there less than a week. And he had never met many of the people whose lives he saved.

Voice 2:Masih was also not a Muslim like most of the people at the University. He was a Christian. In Pakistan, there is a small Christian minority. Most Christians are poor.